Minimum wage initiative will be on primary ballot

ANCHORAGE (AP) — An initiative letting voters decide whether to raise the minimum wage in Alaska has met the minimum signatory requirements to be on the Aug. 19 ballot.

Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai says in an email that about 6,000 votes remain to be checked before the initiative will be certified.

As of Friday, the ballot had more than 1,100 signatures more than the required amount and had met other requirements.

The minimum wage is $7.75 an hour in Alaska. The proposal would raise that to $8.75 on Jan. 1, 2015, and to $9.75 a year later. The wage would be adjusted annually for inflation after that. If the resulting minimum wage is less than a dollar more than the federal minimum wage, it would then be set at $1 higher.